I'm going to make this evident as quickly as possible: The Witcher 2 is one of the most amazing games I've ever played. It's the crown jewel of mature and complex fantasy storytelling.

Story

The Witcher 2 follows protagonist Geralt of Rivia, known as The White Wolf and The Butcher of Blaviken. Geralt is a witcher, a mutant possessing supernatural powers with the ability to slay monsters, exorcise demons, and eliminate anything that stands in his way. Witchers are expert swordsmen who wield two swords - one made of silver to slay monsters, the other made of steel to kill anything else - and have magical powers that give them the edge in battle, from bursts of fire to magical traps that immobilize enemies, allowing for a quick kill. In short, witchers are badasses, and you don't want to cross them.

Especially not Geralt of Rivia.

Geralt of Rivia: Gwynbleidd, "The White Wolf," The Butcher of Blaviken

The Wticher 2's story tracks Geralt's quest to recover his lost memory and hunt down a group known as the king slayers, who - you guessed it - assassinate kings. The death of a king is obviously no laughing matter, and surges of political uprising and uncertainty are commonplace throughout the game. The Witcher takes place in a dark world, where death is no stranger, and people are willing to do anything to make a few coins. Couple that with the assassinations of rulers and you have a recipe for disaster. Dabbling in political matters is a huge component of the game, and many choices you make can greatly impact the course of your tale.

In fact, ANY choice you make in the game can have anywhere from a small impact to a game-changing one. These choices that you make - who to help, who to ally yourself with, etc. - are within the spectrum of "morally gray" and "morally grayer". No choice you make is an easy one. Ever. In fact, after my first play through, I realized all of my choices had an impact in one way or another. As soon as the credits rolled, I immediately began thinking about all the things I would do differently when I play it again (and again and again).

The narrative is complex and sophisticated, and by no means a childish one. The linguistic styles of journal entries - from quests to character and location descriptions - are presented in a mature novel-like form. Rife with grim storytelling, and occasional light-heartedness, The Witcher 2 stands out as one of the deepest games I've played. The game will not forgive you for not following along with the story. You would do well to remember who rules where, who your allies are, and most certainly who your enemies are. Almost all of your relationships are of the "fair weather" sort, and oftentimes you will find that someone you worked with one moment is out to get you the next.

Gameplay

As soon as you begin The Witcher 2, you'll know that the gameplay is complex. Combat is simple, yet highly sophisticated. You have a basic combination of light and heavy attacks with your sword, and coupling these attacks with signs (spells), traps, throwing daggers, bombs, and more is what makes combat satisfyingly complex. Finding the right combinations in a battle is the key to victory, and makes every fight unique in its own way. You can use your Axii sign to possess an enemy and make him fight for you, while you activate the Igni sign to set your other foes ablaze, all while dancing between enemies, slashing them with your blades. It's a fun and interesting dynamic, and it's really satisfying, especially when you start upgrading your abilities.

Crafting is another key component of the game. Gathering ingredients to create potions and items that enhance Geralt's abilities is a necessary part of survival in The Witcher 2. Ingredients can be combined to create potions that grant Geralt bonuses, ranging from a bonus in attack damage to elemental resistances, and everywhere in between. One of the most notable of these potions is the "Cat," which allows Geralt to see in the dark and highlight nearby enemies.

Geralt is entirely customizable, except for his facial and body features. You can change and upgrade his armor, swords, and signs with enhancements that give you extra health or spellpower, more damage, and an increased chance of critical effects that cause bleeding, incineration, and more. You can even change his hairstyle!

By completing quests or slaying monsters, Geralt can level up. As you increase your level, you can add abilities to help enhance your combat prowess, alchemical experience, sign skill, and basic technique through four distinct skill trees. The first tree you must complete (up to level 6) is the Witcher's Path. This gives you basic abilities such as throwing daggers and gaining vitality (health) and vigor (stamina). After that, you have free reign over Geralt's abilities. You can choose the Swordsman path to enhance your combat skills, increasing your health, parrying and riposting abilities, dodging, and more, or you could go the magic route and add to your skill with spells, increasing their intensity, power, and duration. You could even take the Alchemy path and strengthen your skills in creating potions and collecting ingredients (key gameplay components). Mixing and matching enhancements throughout various skill trees is your best option to stay a balanced spell caster and brawler who still dabbles in potion creation.

All of these skills become crucial additions to your arsenal of witcher gear, and help immensely during big monster battles.

Increasing your skills is a necessary part of survival.

Speaking of big monster battles...

There are a number of them. Political matters aside, Geralt is first and foremost a monster hunter. It's what he's trained for his entire life. These boss battles are spectacular and unique, but for the sake of spoilers, I won't go into them in great detail.

If you're simply looking to pass the time, you can participate in a myriad of activities, such as dice poker, arm wrestling, and fight clubs. These activities can help you get coin and can even trigger quest lines!

Arm wrestling is one of many pastimes in The Witcher 2.

Presentation

Visually, The Witcher 2 is stunning. From grand scale wars to wandering the dank, damp forests outside of Flotsam, you are treated to a truly special visual spectacle. Sunlight pours in between the saturated green forest trees, caves echo water drops and monster calls as you pass through wet stone corridors, and the moonlight reflects off of nearby bodies of water. It's truly a sight to behold. However, the best way to play this (on the Xbox 360 Enhanced Edition) is to install the game to the hard drive. This eliminates any frame rate issues and significantly boosts how the game plays.

The sights and sounds of The Witcher 2 are spectacular!

The dark tone of the game is complemented by the prevalence of death and the tense racial class relations. Elves are not the beautiful and noble creatures you often see in Tolkien style fiction. Instead, they are a ragged race that is treated with disdain by the humans, and they often launch retaliatory attacks in an effort to regain their former glory. The dwarves, similarly, are a drunken lot that are also looked down upon. The interactions between various races creates a sense of knife-edge tensity that is hard to find in many other games.

Combining spectacular sights with the ominous tone of the plot creates a brilliant dichotomy that few other games can achieve. Truly, The Witcher 2 is a brilliantly developed game, and you owe it to yourself to play it.

Overall, I'm giving The Witcher 2 a whopping 9.5/10. So, without further ado, let's get to the breakdown!

Gameplay: 9 - Combat is thrilling and different every time, but the menus can be a little difficult at times.

Story: 10 - Few stories allow you to change the course of events as drastically as The Witcher 2 does. It's rife with gripping moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The complex narrative sets itself apart from any other game I've played.

Replay Value: 10 - Being able to go back to the game and get different endings multiple times is one of the most appealing parts of The Witcher 2. Choices small and large influence your story, and choosing different things each time results in very different playthroughs!

Presentation: 10 - Stunning sights and a linguistically mature narrative create an unforgettable world that will have you coming back for more every time.

Graphics: 9 - Beautiful set pieces and activity throughout the environments make this game that much better. Frame rate issues and texture pop in have been known to plague the game, but this is completely alleviated through a simple game install.